Next week, Mick tells Babe that she has to pay back the money she got from The Cokers.

I wonder if this is SOC's work? Seems strange that it's happening weeks after Babe got found out. Hopefully it is and he will carry on clearing up DTC's mess.

I do hope this happens just doesn't sit well that despite getting found out Babe is allowed to get away with what she did.

About time Babe paid

http://metro.co.uk/2016/09/20/easten...again-6130802/

Bad continuity. When Mick and Linda found out, didn't Mick say that Babe would need to apologise to the Cokers? I don't remember him saying anything about paying them back. If this was a planned story then he would have told her at the time to pay them back, thereby setting up this next stage of the story. It does make me think this is a SOC addition to facilitate Babe's exit at some point.

Maybe she does a runner instead of paying them back. I do love the character as disgusting as she is!

agree

Just read i the TV mag how Babe tries to get the money. Lets just say she has learnt nothing.

Cora needs to come back and give Babe a left hook!

Oh Vas!

I don't think it's bad continuity. Mick and Linda had other things on their mind when they first found out about what Babe had done.

I've said all along that I don't think it's over with. I remember commenting on how, for some, if something doesn't happen in the same scene/ep that means it's not going to at all when usually that isn't the case. The storyline was always ongoing.

I don't believe this comes out of the blue. I read somewhere that it's to do with the Carters hearing that Pam and Les are leaving the Square.

Finally!! They should also kick her out the house, not sure why they never just said it when they found out.

I agree. And I don't think the amount was ever mentioned. I always felt that they wanted one last showdown between Babe and Abi and that's why they kept them both in the Vic.

Agreed.

There were many complaints on here at the time that Babe had got away with it. It's almost as if the powers that be at Eastenders read this forum and then think - we better sort that loose end out. Hence the forthcoming storyline that was not even hinted at earlier in proceedings.

Linda said to Babe that she would have to 'make it up to' the Cokers so it was hinted at earlier in the storyline.

Mick and Linda had other things on their mind when they first found out what Babe had done and haven't been in it much since then.

I've said and thought all along it wasn't done with. It's possible the new EP might've executed these scenes differently but I think they were always on the cards in some form. Even when a new EP's material starts airing there is still some carry through from the previous era, Denise's pregnancy for example.

Abi is involved, as Vald points out she got to keep her job at the Vic weeks ago (enabling these scenes) when DTC's material would definitely still have been on-screen.

Cant see Babe staying much longer She needs to learn her lesson

I accept that the trial was playing on their mind, but there still should have been a mention of it being paid back as soon as they found out. It would only have taken one line of dialogue and then could have been put on the back burner as they concentrated on their other problems, coming back up several weeks later as they asked her how much she had paid back and then blew up when they discovered the answer was nothing.

The fact is, as bad a result as the Trial was, Linda did seem to reconcile herself to it and what has Mick been doing since then? Farting around over Darts matches and treating Babe as though there is no problem.

I do think that SOC is addressing some of the concerns a lot of people have expressed over the Carters recently by having Sonia speak out about the Sylvie situation and now bringing Babe's blackmail back up. Even if he is only doing it as a way of facilitating the characters being written out.

Just to add, SOC has apparently said that he doesn't like bad crimes not being 'punished' which was a huge aspect of DTC's tenure so it might be part of that as well.

I do think that if they had decided to keep Babe in, it would have been left as it was.

I had the impression that the handover period was actually what was on screen. During the early Summer. I might be wrong, but i thought Peggy's death was the last 'full' DTC work with SOC shadowing from that point until his 'full' episodes started airing a couple of weeks ago with the new EP of 'The Archers' doing the same thing over the same period of time. In short, SOC will have been working on both during that time.

I could be completely wrong, but i think that is how it usually works.

Of course long term storylines will be in place and one Producer will continue what a prior one started, but it could be continued in a very different way to what was originally planned. Given the lack of reference to Phil and Denise's ONS for nearly 5 months meant that the pregnancy could have been dropped, or ended quickly via termination had SOC decided he didn't want to continue with it.

Agreed with this. I truly don't think there were any plans to make Babe pay back the money originally. DTC and Alex Lamb probably decided that if they quietly ended this storyline with no lasting consequences, they could hit the reset button on Babe so Annette could continue in the role. When SOC came in and decided that Babe was too morally corrupt to reasonably stay within the show as a regular character, this would have been an easy storyline strand to pick back up.

Glad that she's being made to pay it all back, but it really should have happened ages ago. I agree with KitKat that DTC clearly had no plans to make Babe face the consequences otherwise it would have not been swept under the carpet at the time. Bringing it up again several weeks later feels odd.

Is Ann Mitchell your mum? You do seem to love her.

I think Ollie has been very much on their mind. Linda is always looking for signs of brain damage and Mick has been doing all he can to keep her calm and distract her.

When TPTB immediately put Abi back in the Vic it seemed clear that there was more to come. I think they also wanted Babe out of Tina's while the drama played out over there. All a bit clumsy but sometimes it's just a matter of the actor working out their contract.

When it came out, Linda said Babe would have to 'make it up to' the Cokers so I just see this as a continuation of that. It's not like pacing was ever DTC's strong point.

Even if Babe was staying this could still have happened. If anything it makes her staying more viable. If 'resetting' Babe is what DTC/Lamb wanted they could've easily done it this way. I know they've glossed over things after pushing limits in other instances but this one was a lot easier to resolve than Ronnie, Claudette and Jane's actions were/are.

I had a hunch it would be revisited but without being privy to the exact details of the DTC/SOC handover period, I obviously couldn't say for certain it was always on the cards. It's a positive thing for the characters either way. Whilst it's a good thing that Mick and Linda's flaws have become more evident in recent episodes (as an overload of the nicey nicey stuff can get nauseating) this was Babe at her most despicable and them effecting resolution (although some people seemed to get confused that Mick and Linda are Babe's parents, the amount of responsibility they were placing on them for her actions) is a matter of basic decency.

I cant See Babe sticking around long

I don't disagree with anything you have said.

I just thought Linda saying Babe had to 'make it up' was a little vague. Mentioning her having to pay it all back would have been better. Babe broke the law, not just bumped their car.

Of course a little after it got lost in he block story telling and the handover, but IMO it should have been made clear that Babe's terrible actions were not going to be left unpunished.